


We are Me

by IcyPheonix



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Dissociative Identity Disorder, Gen, Mental Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 15:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17428388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPheonix/pseuds/IcyPheonix
Summary: Yusaku gets up in the middle of the night to investigate a sound in his kitchen and has an unusual encounter.





	We are Me

**Author's Note:**

> Dissociative Identity Disorder is the proper name for 'multiple personalities'.

_Clink._

_Clink._

Yusaku cracked an eye open sleepily. Footsteps, clinking glasses and running water, someone was up and about.

' _Morning already?_ ' He rolled over and craned his neck to look at the clock on his desk, the numbers glowing in the dark.

1:30am

He frowned, it wasn't even close to morning, why was someone up at that hour? He ran a quick headcount of everyone in his house. It wasn't Ai or Roboppy, neither of them walked or drank, and he was in his bed, and Kusanagi hadn't stayed over for the night, as he was apt to do sometimes, which only left one other person. Leaning over the bed he looked towards the futon on the floor beside him, it was empty, which meant Takeru was up.

' _I hope it's nothing too serious,_ ' he thought as he sat up. Takeru hadn't been feeling all that well for the last few days, having caught a bug that was going around, so when Yusaku noticed he looked a little green around the gills and tired, he insisted Takeru stay over at his place. He couldn't justify letting Takeru remain alone in his condition.

It didn't sound like he was sick though, the rush of water sounded like it had come from a tap rather than the flush of a toilet. So he hadn't gotten worse, that much was good.

Yusaku swung his legs over the edge of his bed. So perhaps it had been a nightmare then, he knew Takeru suffered from those as well, and if he was up then it had to have been a bad one. Yusaku rubbed the sleep from his eyes before standing up and heading towards the source of the nighttime noises, his tiny kitchen.

"Takeru?" He peered around the door and into the kitchen, squinting in the light. As his eyes adjusted, he could see Takeru standing at the counter, back to him and glass of water in hand. He was still dressed in his nightclothes, a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants, loaned to him by Yusaku. His hair was an uncombed mess and it looked like he'd simply pushed it aside with his hands.

"Takeru?" Yusaku asked again, after getting no response the first time. "You ok?"

"Soulburner."

Yusaku paused in the doorway, unsure if he'd heard him properly. "What?"

"I'm Soulburner, not Takeru. He's asleep."

As he turned to face Yusaku, Yusaku couldn't help but notice how, different he was. The way he held himself, the look in his eyes, he just seemed so different from the Takeru he knew. There was an air of confidence in his posture that Takeru didn't normally have. Now that Takeru was facing him, it was clear that he had pushed his hair out of his face with one hand, giving it a slicked back appearance. If Yusaku had to pick a word to describe the Takeru standing in his kitchen, it would be 'delinquent'.

"You're, Soulburner?" asked Yusaku.

'Soulburner' nodded before taking another drink from the glass and setting it aside. "I didn't wake you did I? I just wanted a drink."

Yusaku blinked in surprise, with how 'Soulburner' was looking at him he'd expected him to be a bit more, rough. "Um no not really. I'm a light sleeper, you could have snored too loudly and I'd probably have woken up."

He nodded, "That's good. I wanted to meet you but..."

"Meet me?"

"Takeru seems fond of you, so I thought it was time I got to meet you myself," he said.

Yusaku shifted on his feet, "So you're not Takeru?"

'Soulburner' frowned, planting his hands on the table suddenly, "I told you, I'm Soulburner! I'm here to make sure no one hurts Takeru." He pointed at himself with a huff. "Takeru's too soft to stand up for himself, so that's why he has me. I keep him from getting hurt. And he's been hurt more than enough." He pointed at Yusaku, "And that includes protecting him from you."

"I would never hurt Takeru. He's my friend!"

Soulburner studied him for a moment, eyes narrowed as he stared him down. Then he straightened up, shoulders relaxing. "I believe you. But if you do ever hurt him, I'll make sure you regret it."

' _Somehow I don't doubt that,_ ' thought Yusaku. This side of Takeru, this 'Soulburner' as he insisted on calling himself, looked far more ready to physically throw down that Takeru ever would. Yusaku could almost call him intimidating.

"So, is everything alright?" asked Yusaku. "You never answered me before."

"I'm fine," replied Soulburner. "I just needed a drink." He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. "I'm going back to bed, don't need Takeru being tired in the morning."

"Hey, Soulburner," said Yusaku as Soulburner strode past him and into the hall. "Thank you."

"Eh? For what?"

"For being there for Takeru."

Soulburner was quiet for a moment. "You too. Stick by him, you're good for him."

  


Takeru couldn't help but to notice that Yusaku was oddly quiet at breakfast that morning. At least quieter than was usual for him.

"Is something wrong Yusaku?" he asked, poking at his bowl of cereal.

"Ah, no it's..." Yusaku trailed off for a moment, prodding some eggs around the pan. He sighed and dumped the eggs onto a plate before sitting down across from Takeru. "I met Soulburner last night."

Takeru's face paled. "O-oh. He didn't, do anything did he?"

Yusaku gave him a quizzical look. "Should he have?" he asked.

"Ah it's just, Soulburner can be a little, protective of me, which means sometimes he can be a little, aggressive."

"We just talked," said Yusaku. "So, what _is_ he exactly?" At first when he'd introduced himself as Soulburner, Yusaku had thought it was some kind of sleepwalking, that he was dreaming. But when he'd gotten closer and the conversation continued it became apparent that was not the case at all. 

Takeru sighed. "I have DID. Soulburner's–the doctor's said he's called an alter. He's a, defence mechanism I suppose, he takes over when things are to stressful or to much for me to handle." He sighed and wrung his fingers together nervously. "The doctors said it was probably a side effect of the Lost Incident." He looked up at Yusaku, "I'm not...I'm not dangerous, Soulburner's not dangerous either. I mean, I suppose if you tried to physically hurt me he might be but he's, he's just protective."

Yusaku nodded, "He said as much last night. Made it pretty clear he wouldn't be happy if I hurt you."

"I hope he wasn't too much," said Takeru.

"Not really. He said he wanted to meet me. I think he was deciding if I was good enough for you and if he could trust me," said Yusaku. "So, you don't remember any of that?"

Takeru shook his head, "I remember going to bed last night and waking up this morning. I don't generally remember things from when he's in control. Which can be a problem sometimes, because he doesn't like wearing my glasses. So there's been times I've woken up and had to figure out what he did with them, he never leaves them where I can find them."

"So when we're in Link VRAINS, is that you or..."

"Oh! No that's always me. I mean, he's kind of there supporting me but I can usually handle myself in Link VRAINS," said Takeru. "I think he may have stepped in once or twice but, no it's me so don't worry."

"Does Flame know about him?"

Takeru nodded, "Yeah he knows, he's one of the few." Yusaku was quiet and Takeru shifted nervously in his seat, trying to get on read on Yusaku and what he was thinking. "So you're not, freaked out by all this, by me?" he asked finally. "You don't think I'm like, freaky or weird or something? Or scared of me?"

Yusaku tilted his head, giving him a bemused look. "No? Why would I?" he asked. "I'm a little surprised, yes, but I'm not scared. You're my friend Takeru, I'm not afraid of you. And I'm not afraid of Soulburner either, and if he wants, I'd like to be his friend too."

"Yusaku..." A smile cracked on his face and he lifted his glasses to wipe away tiny tears that had begun to blur his vision. "I'm...that's...you have no idea what it means to hear that. Especially from you."

A tiny smile tugged at his lips and Yusaku opened his mouth to respond but stopped when he caught sight of the clock.

"At a risk of sounding rude, if we don't pick up the pace, we're going to be late for school. Get emotional on me later, when we have time."

**Author's Note:**

> B/c let's be honest, this is the sort of thing that could have resulted from the trauma of the Lost Incident.


End file.
